1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surge protector with first and second electrodes, with a heat sensitive means and with a contact member which is electrically connected with said first electrode and which is mounted so as to be brought into contact with said second electrode upon the temperature of said heat sensitive means reaching a predetermined value when receiving heat from said protector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a known surge protector (manufactured and marketed by the French firm Campagnie Industrielle de Tubes et Lampes Electriques (CITEL), first and second electrodes are mounted in a heat and electricity conducting grounded metal body and are electrically and thermally connected to this body and isolated therefrom respectively. One end of a contact member which is resilient is fixed on the body so as to be able to receive heat therefrom and a heat sensitive, meltable element is arranged between the body and the contact member so as to maintain the other end of the contact member at a distance from the second electrode. When for instance due to the presence of a continuous voltage on the second electrode a continuous electric arc is produced in the gap between the electrodes and the body of the protector is heated above a predetermined temperature, the meltable element will melt. As a consequence the grounded resilient contact member will then come into contact with the second electrode and thus ground the latter so that the current flowing through the arc gap between the electrodes will be interrupted so that the protector body will no longer heat up, thus eliminating any danger for fire.
Other more complex surge protectors of this general type do not rely on a resilient contact but on the urging of a separate spring, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,539 and French application 2,481,011.